SE Controls engineers smoke control solution for high-performance building

A SHEVTEC control system engineered by SE Controls has proven an ideal solution for smoke control and environmental ventilation at Newcastle University’s Urban Sciences Building (USB).

The 12,800m2 USB is the first structure to be completed on the 24 acre Newcastle Helix development and is home to the university’s School of Computing, as well as providing extensive teaching and research facilities focused on digitally enabled urban sustainability.

The building incorporates a diverse range of innovative technologies, sustainable design features and fresh thinking, making it one of the UK’s most monitored high-performance buildings. 

As energy efficiency and sustainability are key aspects of the building design, these principles were also carried through to the glazed façades, curtain walling, environmental ventilation and smoke control systems. Therefore, cladding and glazing systems specialist, Dane Architectural Systems, used Schueco FW 60 + SG, with AWS 114 ventilators including TipTronic concealed actuators.

To ensure they could meet the demanding design intent of the system, which required these vents to be linked to the BMS for managed day-to-day ventilation, Dane Architectural turned to SE Controls a specialist contractor capable of providing a fully compliant solution.

As the Automatic Opening Vents (AOV) have specific zone requirements and operate in banks of 3 for normal ventilation needs, SE Controls designed the operation of the smoke control system to maintain the functionality and flexibility of the TipTronic control, while integrating with the system and providing effective smoke ventilation to the building in the event of a fire.

To achieve this, SE Controls worked in close collaboration with Dane Architectural and developed the new OS2 TipTronic SHEVTEC Controller, which is dedicated to Shueco’s TipTronic actuator system, enabling it to provide effective smoke and heat exhaust ventilation (SHEV) to the building.

Following the production of a detailed design, which included integration matrices, schematic drawings, operational documentation and installation details, SE Controls installed more than 40 of the new OS2 TipTronic controllers at the USB.

Contact:

SE Controls,
Lancaster House,
Wellington Crescent,
Fradley Park,
Lichfield,
Staffordshire,
WS13 8RZ

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